Bruce Gigs

30 May 2008
London (Stu, Martin B, Mark J)
Emirates Stadium

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Radio Nowhere
The Ties That Bind
Lonesome Day
The Promised Land
Magic
Atlantic City
Reason To Believe
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
Because The Night
Working On The Highway
Cadillac Ranch
Livin' In The Future
Mary's Place
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
Point Blank
Devil's Arcade **
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

Thunder Road
Born To Run
Glory Days
Rosalita
Dancing In The Dark
American Land *


19 December 2007
London (Jacqueline, Stu)
O2 Arena

Radio Nowhere
No Surrender
Night
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason To Believe
Because The Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
The Promised Land
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
Working On The Highway
Racing In The Street
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

Girls In Their Summer Clothes
Jungleland
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
American Land
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town


31 May 2003
Dublin, Ireland (Una, Stu, Greta)
RDS Showground

1. Born in the U.S.A. (acoustic)
2. The Rising
3. Lonesome Day
4. Candy's Room
5. My Love Will Not Let You Down
6. Atlantic CIty
7. Empty Sky
8. You're Missing
9. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
10. The Promised Land
11. Worlds Apart
12. Badlands
13. Out in the Street
14. Mary's Place
15. Meeting Across the River
16. Jungleland
17. Into the Fire
18. Thunder Road

19. Kitty's Back
20. Ramrod
21. Born to Run
22. Seven Nights to Rock
23. Glory Days

24. My City of Ruins ***
25. Land of Hope and Dreams
26. Dancing in the Dark



27 October 2002
London (Stu, Carol)
Wembley Arena

1. The Rising
2. Lonesome Day
3. No Surrender
4. The Fuse
5. Jackson Cage
6. Empty Sky
7. You're Missing
8. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
9. Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street
10. Worlds Apart
11. Badlands
12. She's the One
13. Night
14. Mary's Place
15. Counting on a Miracle
16. The River (solo acoustic)
17. Incident on 57th Street (solo piano)
18. Into the Fire

19. Dancing in the Dark
20. Ramrod
21. Born to Run

22. My City of Ruins
23. Born in the U.S.A.
24. Land of Hope and Dreams
25. Thunder Road

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Talking to a burn-out on the tube about the new James Bond novel (which I bought and started yesterday on its day of release)

Working from home for the morning from an empty, sunny, quiet house

Dropping the the Enfants Terribles at tennis

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Fresh orange juice - having picked the fruit off the tree

Sleeping in the shade

Cold beer in hot sunshine

Andalusian mad dogs - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry

A bright sun walk along the valley by Nigueras - with Matteo, Neil and Paul

Eating cherries off the tree

A run through citrus groves - at Beznar

Friday's Happiness Experiment entry

First sea swim of the year - near Motril, Andalusia - with Paul, Neil and Matteo

Tapas as lead-up to late nite drinking - reunion with Eileen & Matteo in Beznar

The excitement of travel - even at 04:45 in the morning

Fear and Sex

An oldie but goldie I cited when first reflecting on this subject on SP4:

Q: What comes between Fear and Sex?

A: Funf

One for the cunning linguists among us, nein?

So the subject is Fear. From day-to-day personal development to the realm of global politics it's a big driver - and very destructive.

I thought it would be interesting to try this experiment - take a newspaper at random (in this case the copy of the Daily Mail for Wed 21 May I was given getting on the plane to Glasgow that afternoon) and analyse it in terms of how big a role Fear plays in its headlines. I reckoned Fear's main rival would be Sex.
I worked my way through the first 25 pages (the news pages) recording every headline without exception. From page 26 to the Sports pages at the end I kept just a selection (though still the majority). Here's the results:

Fear

Fathers not required (gender roles, redundancy)
IVF vote sidelines fathers
The girl crushed to death by a tree in freak bus crash (random death)
Pupils aged five get a spell in the sin bin (youth delinquancy)
The prickly prince (decline of monarchy/social order)
Spend-it-all parents give their children a bad heir day (where money meets death) Party leaders at war on abortion (death before you're even born)
10p tax debacle could still cost families £150 a year
With no friend, I really am a Solitary Man says Diamond (loneliness)
Let us strike say police (social disorder, crime)
Our editors have total freedom says Mail chief (lies, misinformation)
15 beers, 20 vicious punches... and 6 months in jail for England footballer
Soaring oil prices push diesel near £6 a gallon
The power bills stitch-up
Police car that killed girl of 16 'didn't have blue lights or siren on' (random death meets social disorder)
The micro-particles that could pose the same risk as asbestos
1M more Britons in just 3 years (immigration, foreigners)
We moved to escape the FEAR of crime
Beware scentists who insist they know best (science)
Sorry Fergie, I can't stomach you or your porky pies (social disorder)
Where did all the real men go?
Why this horror makes me FEAR for the future of South Africa
Care home chief is jailed over death of Alzheimer's patient (disease meets social disorder, distrust)
Suicide note in star's pocket
Why do clever women fall for second-rate men?
Bosses 'picked on' registrar opposed to gay marriages
Tax payers will fund Sky 'propaganda' show
Labour's pledge on farm cash in tatters
Milk float mobsters

Sex

Vicar's war on 'wicked' Playboy (moral decline)
Gwyneth's hitting the heights again
The real battle for Moscow (Wags)

Beyond p25

Bad parents are the villains of the age says Cameron
Crooked dentist put a dog on his list of patients
Heroic undercover soldier Robert Nairac was savagely tortured by the IRA
Exchange trip girl was killed jogging with iPod
Long-term care: a national disgrace
Insurers pocketing your pension
Don't fall for this card trick
Fuming over BT cold call (anger)
Our care system? chaotic
So furious he's lost for words
Will new stem cell research create monsters?
We work hard, but Britain doesn't repay us
Yell cries out as £3.8bn debts pile on the pressure
House price crash could jeopardise Rock's recovery
ICAP takes a dive
The mining prop begins to creak
Oil-rich Russian economy ready to takes off (money meets foreigners)
Shaw future in doubt
Make sure greed does not wreck 20Plenty
Horne is braced for long lay-off
It's over for Faldo as he gives Open a miss (aging, mortality)
Essien won't risk penalty pain
Why is it we can't love Rooney?
Usmanov's knives out for Gunners
Moscow's hell, Michel
Guns, concrete and football's new power base

What surprised me most was how little competition from Sex there was. Scary!

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Around Glasgow art school at night

8th floor night view of Glasgow from Marks Hotel split-level spacey room

A fluent 90 minute speech (though not quite Bob Geldof) at Cross Creative

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Reading Bulldog Drummond

Hitting 92.4

Kicking off Sea Me public art project with Ben at MovingBrands

Sunday's Happiness Experiment entry

Wearing my wedding suit (made by John Pearse) for the first time in over a decade

Gerard O'Hare's version of I'll Tell Me Ma - both camp and rebel rousing

The singing and music at D's party - Patmo, Adie Dunbar and Gerard O'Hare

What's New? - yesterday's Happiness Experiment entry

Hearing Bob Geldof and Tim Berners-Lee speaking at The Innovation Edge at the Festival Hall - the former is a fine, fluid speaker and the latter the epitome of British genius modesty

Meeting Farrah, star of my next project, for the first time in Fleet Street

Walk from Festival Hall to Fleet Street in the sunshine

Monday's Happiness Experiment entry

An outdoor coffee in Smithfield - with Axel Chaldecott of JWT

A warm chat with David Puttnam in the Channel 4 caff about URM8 and Embarrassing Bodies - Oli Barrett was suitably impressed as the Lord approached me ;-)

Reviewing the photos from yesterday's party - Patmo, Adie Dunbar and Gerard O' Hare singing

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Chicken soup (at Harry Morgan, established 1947)

Saturday lunch with Big Son

Ralph Steadman's drawings in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - which I finished today

Embarrassing Bodies (test embed)

When I grow up...

...I want to be...

D: Top Gear Presenter or Zoo Keeper or Driving Instructor

N: Rugby Player or Photographer

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Reaching my lowest weight so far this year - don't even find the jogging boring any more

A moment of Jimi Hendrix at sundown

The covers of two old Biggles books in the window of Black Gull

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Hooking up with Matt and Mark from Marble Media, Toronto - first time since Banff TV Festival last June

Psychedelia at psunset

Good piece in Broadcast about The Radio Play's The Thing

Creative Accounting #154

Phil Oakey ÷ Mark Almond = voice of Yorkshire

(PO: double-tracked vocals on Human)

Creative Accounting #153

Van Morrison = James Brown + Sean Nos

(VM: A Night in San Francisco; JB: Georgia on my Mind)

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

The smell of cut grass [the very first entry in the predecessor of Simple Pleasures written the year Reasons to Be Cheerful part 3 came out (1979)] - the difference is today I was mowing my own lawn and played on it with my son

Reading with the balcony door open when it's raining outside

Seeing my neighbour Maurice after him being away a long time in hospital - D alerted us all to his arrival with child enthusiasm

Embarrassing Bodies

Anyone Watchin Embarrassing Bodies C4?
By Amber26(vBulletin)
Is anyone else watching Embarrassing Bodies on Channel 4? They were all talking about it at work today, but im guessing they'll be a little quieter about it tomorrow seen as tonight is about men!
Cambridge Dieters - http://www.cambridgedieters.com/forums

Creative Accounting #28

Road / The Commitments = Try a Little Tenderness

Came up twice today:
(1) Noreen Kershaw (Shameless director), who I met on location at To The Broad Shore (first radio drama for Channel 4 Radio), just directed Road in Bolton - which has a scene centred on the Otis Redding original
(2) Watched The Commitments with the Enfants Terribles - the Andrew Strong take on it

Today's Happiness Experiment entry

Nice piece in The Guardian about Embarrassing Bodies' success online



Twilight



Showing the Enfants Terribles how voting is done (at Martin School for the London mayoral election)